Cameras in the Courtroom

On October 3, 2011, the Northern District of California began participating in the Cameras in the Courtroom Pilot Program (“Pilot Program”) created by the Judicial Conference of the United States. Upon being selected to participate in the Pilot Program, the Court entered General Order 65, which adopts the Pilot Program guidelines issued by the Judicial Conference's Court Administration and Case Management Committee. Pursuant to those guidelines, please note the following:

Only active and senior district judges are eligible to participate in the Pilot Program. Presently, the following judges have agreed to participate: Chief Judge Wilken, Judge Henderson, Judge Chesney, Judge Illston, Judge Breyer, Judge White, Judge Seeborg, Judge Koh, Judge Davila, Judge Chen, Judge Gonzalez Rogers, Judge Freeman, Judge Donato and Judge Chhabria. Judges may opt in or out of the program at any time; this webpage will be updated to reflect the currently participating judges.

Video recording of court proceedings is limited to civil cases only (jury or non-jury) and requires the approval of the presiding judge and the consent of all parties.

The presiding judge, any party to the case, or the media may request that a proceeding be video recorded by following the applicable procedures.

A party’s decision whether to consent to video recording, and the reasons therefor, will not be made part of the public record in the case.

Consent to the video recording of one proceeding in a case will not be construed as consent to record any other proceeding in the case.

A party may request that a witness be exempted from the video recording of a proceeding by following the applicable procedures. The presiding judge will decide whether such a request will be granted or denied.

Only court personnel are permitted to video record court proceedings.

The presiding judge may decide not to make all or part of a video recording available to the public.